President Trump doubled down on his threat to send the National Guard to Chicago, but local leaders are voicing doubts about the legality of the move.

The big picture: Trump says he wants to use the military presence in Chicago to fight crime, homelessness and undocumented immigration, but while the home rule laws in Washington, D.C. make it easier to federalize law enforcement, it's unclear if the law supports this in Illinois.

What they're saying: "The whole point of the system of state control of local law enforcement and of state militias is as a check against federal abuse of power," Northwestern University law professor Paul Gowder said. "This has been true since the founding of the United States, and the only alteration to this system of divided power was after the Civil War."

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